Marc Ambinder, writing in the Atlantic:
The patchwork problem of federal and state election regulations strikes again.
Military ballots are being tossed in Fairfax Co, VA because of a “technicality.” Not a lot of them compared to the size of the electorate, but more than a few.
The registrar of voters in [sic] a Democrat. He thinks it “stinks,” but the law is the law.
Fairfax general registrar Rokey Suleman said Thursday that he has had to reject some of the ballots because of a Virginia law passed in 2002. That law -- then called Senate Bill 113, sponsored by then state Sen. Bill Bolling -- requires that when an overseas citizen wants to request an absentee ballot and cast a vote with the same paperwork, it requires not only a witness signature but also the current address of the witness.
The McCain campaign said there's not even a space for the witness to list an address. Suleman agreed; he said the federal document was changed in recent years and the space for the witness address was removed. But the Virginia law hasn't changed.
Democrats insist they’re biased towards access… so will they try to intervene on behalf of these voters?
I’m assuming that last is a rhetorical question, but if not, let me help:
Fuck no! I mean, dude. Whose side are you on, anyway?
McChimplerburton’s Killbots are felons for fighting in his illegal wars of choice. So they aren’t allowed to vote anyway. So, the system works! LET EVERY VOTE COUNT!!!……..(except the ones we don’t like)…..
And, according to the Kafka amendment to the bill, both the voter and the witness are to be placed on double secret probation.
Simply mind boggling…
That members of our armed forces stationed overseas, protecting us, our nation, and our interests, should be denied their voice in this election is stupefying…
And how is it that Virginia can lawfully invalidate a Federal balloting form in a national election anyway…?
I am a firm believer in the tenth amendment and the over-arching principle of states rights. But the very fact that service personell will be disenfranchised is completely unacceptable. Especially when we are essentially allowing voter fraud to be perpatrated on a nationwide scale by ACORN, sanctioned by Democrat apparatchicks, all in the name of, you know, fairness…
Can O! and his minions win the election-by whatever means necessary?
Yes, we can!
O!
This is the same county where the registrar is actively signing up inmates in the county jail:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_absentee_votes_102308/
Woot!
Drive byes for Obama? Yes We Can!
I’ve gotten a little news from the inside over there, and the word is that Arlington and Alexandria (communist country) have decided that the law isn’t material and are ignoring it, but that Fairfax is still following it. Also, apparently, they’re getting a lot of phone calls.
COUNT EVERY DEMOCRAT VOTE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Democrats insist they’re biased towards access… so will they try to intervene on behalf of these voters?
Yes We Can’t!
Baracky thinks he can steal the election cause anyone anyone calls him on it and his media will call them racists and destroy them. He’s a fucking thug.
Thug tactics notwithstanding, isn’t this a bureaucracy issue, not a vast left-wing conspiracy issue? Or am I being naive? It just seems to me that assigning blame might be a little overboard in this case.
You cannot blame the Dems for the actions of the Dems.
Armbinder and his ilk don’t even hide that they are vote cheating anymore, do they?
The bureaucracies that are at the center of the fraud efforts all seem to be in urban centers in swing states. Who controls most if not all of the bureaucracies in urban centers in swing states? It’s pretty easy to blame democrats, is it not.
I love watching election day coverage and seeing the reports of long voting lines at urban precincts, and how a lack of organization “disinfranchises” the poor and elderly. It happens every two years, and democrats are always on camera full of righteous indignation over a state of affairs they created in the first place.
We’re not really comfortable being a “swing state” yet. It is, to put it lightly, a recent development. And you really have to stretch to call Fairfax County an “urban center.” Maybe that just shows the depths of my big-city elitism, though.
This is not just happening in Virginia. Fairfax County was but one example of the trend. I related that trend to observations I’ve made over the past several elections. Without fail, every two years, there are news reports of long lines, badly organized precincts, confusing ballots, etc….They are usually reports from the cores of larger cities, otherwise known as “urban centers”, and they are mostly if not all run by democrat political machines.
#3 Bob Reed:
It affects because we all vote locally, in states, even for federal/national offices.
The better question is why did not the DOD have JAG design a form that would be compatable with all state requirements? Or have variations on the form available as PDF? Or even have the state forms available? (‘What state do you want to have an absentee ballot for?’ ‘Virginia.’ ‘Virginia is DDV-7, here you go. Any questions?’) The problem is not the state law, the problem is not the local elected official that has to comply with state law, the problem is not the soldier requesting the ballot, the problem is a little bit higher. It lies with the DOD and with Congress, and Congress creates the laws that the military functions under. Congress can make it work. But that would be doing their jobs, wouldn’t it.
I met a couple of staffers from Sen. Carl Levin’s office yesterday. If I knew then what I know now I would have said something.
Opportunity missed.
Mikey NTH,
Very good point, sir. Upon further reflection it would seem that DOD should have done a better job designing a more universal form. Or perhaps they should have polling stations on military reservations…
I know, Lump all of the Mil vote in with DC…I wonder if Elenor Holmes Norton would still be their, ahem, shadow representative…
Good point and
Best Wishes…
The DoD does help people with local requirements. The Federal Form in question is used when you are late for local deadlines or feel you won’t get your material in time, but want to make sure you at least get counted in the Federal Election protion of the ballot.
I haven’t had a chance to look at the law on this, but my first impression is that were these not military, there would ot be such a press to toss them. Just ask yourself if these were coming from Peace Corps workers…